Process for manufacturing pen nibs



Dec. 23, 1941. M, s, BAKER 2,267,147

PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING PEN NIBS Filed Nov. 13, 1959 Zia/en for:

\ Mar/#7 S Baker N TE TA Patented Dec. 23, 1941 rnocnss mm s PAT EN2,261,141 I MANUFliCTURING PEN ms Marlin S. Baker, Janesvillc, Wis.,assignor to The Parker Pen Company, Janesville, -Wis., a corporationlofWisconsin Application November 13, 1939', Serial No; 304,174

2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in nlbs primarily for use inconnection with fountain P ns.

The process hereinafter described and claimed is directed towards themethod of fabrication of a so-called tubular nib such as is shown anddescribed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 249,617, now maturedinto Patent No.

2,223,541, granted December 3, 1940.

In the manufacture of a standard fountain pen nib the usual practice isto blank out a nib from gold stock, raise and form itas to have therequired thickness at heel and tip and the required radius throughoutits length, weld an iridium tip on the pointed end of the nib, then slitthe iridium and the pointed end of the nib' to form nib fingers. Somepregrinding is done before the slitting operation but the essentialgrinding is done thereafter and it is necessary to grind each iridiumwtip individually to produce a smooth writing point. Due to the fact thatsaid tips are the formed tubular nib from the iridium tipped endthereof. 7

In the drawing the numeral III will be used generally to indicate a nibblank having one end thereof blanked out as at ll to form an approximateV notch providing extending and separated tips l2-.-'-l2. The outer sideedges of the blank are so formed in the die as to provide locking lugsIii-l3 which engage corresponding locking notches l4l4 on the adjacentside of the nib so close together it is an exceedingly tedious andawkward job to grind each iridium point accurately and to clean out theslit formed by the sawing of the iridium as to make the finished nib asmooth writing instrument. Grinding the inside of the slit isaccomplished by distorting the fingers necessitating the use of pliersor some other instrument to perfectly aline the two nib points after thegrinding has been accomplished. This distorting of the gold nib afterthe grinding and polishing destroys theset of the nib and ofttimes setsup stresses and strains in the gold at the point of bending whichweakens said nib.

The primary object of my invention is to so form a nib blank as topermit ready accessibility said finishing forming the nib as to bringthe two finished fingers together.

Another object of my invention is to provide a,

nib so designed as to eliminate the necessity of the slitting operationto form the writing fingers.

Still another-object of my invention is to provide means to preventlateral displacement of the nib fingers after the nib is finally formed.

To fully understand my invention reference should be had to theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a top elevation of my nib as it is to provide againstlateral displacement of the individual nib tips after the nib has beenrolled to tubular form and lugs l3l3 are'forced into engagement with thelocking notches I l-ll.

the rolling and forming of the nib into its final state a notch I5 isprovided which notch is utilized.

to lock the nib within the pen against rotation therein. In the blankingoperation an axial lo- 7 cated aperture I6 is punched out whichaperture" is provided as a breather hole to permit ready passage of airfrom and into the pen barrel into which the nib is assembled.

, The steps of production of the nib are as folit lows: The blank comesfrom the die in the form as shown in Fig. 1, minus the iridium tips. It,

is perfectly fiat and because of this fact the fingers are widelyseparated onefrom the-other; Pellets of iridium are welded to thefingersand are ground and polished individually, and as .the

fingers are widely separated it can readily be perceived that theindividual points can be easily and effectively ground and polishedwithout distortion of the nib fingers. Upon completionof the grindingand polishing of the nib points the j j I nib is formed in tubularshape, the locking lugs I3-l 3 engaging notches 14-, thus preventinglateral distortion of the fingers. Due to the ap-" I proximate V shapedcut in the fore part of the blank the forming of the blank into tubularshape brings the two nib fingers and iridium points to-\ gether whichprovides a writing point. Obviously it is unnecessary to slit the formednib due to the l V fact that the jointure of the opposed edges pro- TYoFFlca g vides the necessary slit down which ink flows to the iridiumpoint.

Some adjustment of the tips and slit is necessary but said adjustment isof such minor nature as to positively eliminate any possibility ofdistortion of the nib fingers.

Obviously other means can be utilized to lock the opposed edges of thenib together when the blank is formed into a tube than that disclosed.Such other forms may be utilized without departing from the scope of theinvention as disclosed herein and hereinafter defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. The process for forming a fountain pen nib rated fingers, grindingand polishing the individual hard tips of the fingers while in separatedposition to provide hard smooth writing points and forming said blankinto a cylinder whereby the longitudinal edges of the blanks and theprojecting writing points are brought into alignment and approximatecontact.

2. The process for forming a fountain pen nib comprising the blankingout of a substantially rectangular flat piece notched at one end toprovide widely separated projected fingers, securing a'hard metal tip toeach 0! the ends of the separated fingers, grinding and polishing theindividual hard tips of the fingers while in separated comprising theblanking out of a substantially 15' position, and bending said blank tobring the rectangular flat piece notched at one end to provide widelyseparated projecting fingers, securing a hard metal tip to each of theends of the sepaseparated points into alignment and approximate contactto provide a hard smooth writing point.

MARLIN 8. BAKER.

